L.A. Noire's Aussie Technology

You may have seen the impressive L.A. Noire tech video we posted earlier, but Nick Broughall, my esteemed counterpart over at Gizmodo (and over the desk in the office) just got back from a swanky tour of the tech over in Los Angeles, and he’s written an appropriately swanky feature which you can read here.

Nick got the chance to speak to Team Bondi founder Brendan McNamara, and a bunch of other people involved in the creation of L.A. Noire, about the technology being used in the game. It’s a fascinating look at a truly groundbreaking process. Here’s a select quote from VP of development Jeronimo Barrera:

We’re trying something new that’s never been done. We’re not just releasing a game – everybody looks at this who hasn’t seen it in person, even from the screenshots you look at it and go, ‘Oh, it’s GTA with Fedoras on’. But the reality is that it’s a whole new different concept, it’s a whole new way of looking at interactive entertainment. I think we’re starting to blur the lines between a television program and a video game.

Agreed, but it still does look amazing, even without great shaders. Which is why I think animation is the most important part of any 3d game or movie. If it moves well then the audience will believe it, even if falls short in other areas.

i have a simple question, does this tech require the use of actor's faces on the actual models, i guess it would be quite interesting seeing more mainstream actors in games but i kind of think it could be restrictive.